This, this is HUGE! I really cannot wait for the reveal! This is just one reason I have been so quiet over here. I have been working with 5 other amazing Etsy shop owners to bring this crazy idea of mine to life!

I know I revealed this over on Instagram a couple of weeks ago, but I figured I’d share it here with more of an explanation of what and how this whole crazy thing works. If you have ANY questions, please leave a comment below, or message me on instagram.

I swear I have not fallen off the face of the planet. I know the blog has been neglected for a few weeks now and in my last post I had mentioned that I would be back to blogging, but time has just gotten away from me. I’m now 1 day away from the kids starting school! I can’t believe I have a Fourth and a Ninth Grader!! What in the world?!

With the kids starting school tomorrow I have spent most of this week making some breakfast items I like to keep on hand/in the freezer, for a quick and easy breakfast. Breakfast cookies are something that I can make and then keep in the freezer until we’re ready to eat them. There are just those mornings where we do not have time for me to stand and cook them breakfast, so having a nutritious but quick alternative is helpful. Plus, who doesn’t want cookies for breakfast?

So the last time I was around was right before the 4th of July! Summer break is almost over! I can’t believe we are about 2 1/2 weeks from school starting. With the new school year upon us there are some big changes coming to The Planner & Paper Company Shop. If you follow me on Instagram, you kinda have an idea of what this blog post is about.

While I have been pretty quiet around here, I have been working tirelessly on a Back to School Collection – I released the Countdown portion a couple of weeks ago – and on the September monthly collection. I was invited to join Peppermint Planner’s birthday bash next month and so I created a small sampler sticker sheet to be included in her giveaways. That lead us – Hubs & I – down the rabbit hole of looking for printing options. I wanted to send a printed version of the sampler and so we started researching options. We have found the most cost effective solution and it allows us to eventually grow into a subscription based business, should that be the route we chose.

Happy 4th of July!! I hope everyone had a safe and fun holiday. We spent a quiet day at home, just the 4 of us. My Mum has been under the weather for the past few days, so she stayed home today – all truth be told, I didn’t want Strep Throat – so she stayed home and got some much needed rest. We just hung out at home, the kids did their thing and I test cut some of the upcoming products for August and played with my planner. We didn’t go out to see any fireworks this evening as people in our neighborhood are letting them off and it’s freaking Molly, our American Bully pup, out. She’s currently curled up in her bed hiding. Hank, our American Bulldog, could careless and is laid at my feet sleeping.

Since we were home today I decided to make one of the kids favorites for dinner. BBQ Ribs. Our family loves ribs. We have even been on a “quest” (this was the kids idea) to find the best ribs in our local area. I believe Friday’s won that honor and this recipe is similar to their ribs. They are fork tender but have that crispy outer edge that is the best part of ribs! The kids are now convinced that my ribs are the best in town.

Mmm… Macaroni & Cheese and I’m not talking about the box kind. I LOVE macaroni and cheese and I remember my Mum making this recipe when I was a kid and she still, to this day, makes the best macaroni & cheese EVER.

She even won the Hubs over when we were dating with this recipe and it is one of the most requested meals whenever I meal plan. I’m not sure if that’s because it’s a quick, easy dinner or it’s because it’s a favorite. To me.. this is comfort food. There’s just something about this recipe. I don’t think we ever grow tired of this for dinner.

It’s 4th of July week here in the U.S. We don’t have huge plans this year as my Mum is under the weather with strep throat and so it will probably just be us hanging out and we may try and go to the city’s fireworks tomorrow evening. The holiday is reflected in the meal plan this week, but it’s a slimmed down version of what I would typically cook as it will just be the 4 of us for dinner this year.

A friend of mine is visiting this week from California, so we are planning on spending quite a bit of time with her over the weekend; which should be a ton of fun! We have been friends since 2009, when we met online and we’ve stayed in touch over the years, texting, Skype, Facebook etc. and we’re now going to get the opportunity to meet. If I’m quiet over the week, this could be why. We do have plans to go to Universal Studios, the Beach, swimming & dinner, so there will be plenty of pictures going up on on my Instagram. Now let’s just hope the weather co-operates!

I know l missed last weeks meal plan but if you read my Manic Monday post you’ll understand why. So far so good today *fingers crossed* as I haven’t left the house yet, but it doesn’t seem AS crazy today. *I started this post this morning at 9am.. it’s now 6pm and I’m just editing the last of this. It’s not been crazy, although there was an attempt or 2 to run me off the road again today, but I was off having fun with the Boy and the Nephew this morning and tried to post this in between*.

Last week seemed to be a blur, I’m not sure if it’s because it started out a little off or it’s because band camp has officially started for the Girl or we are just now settled into a slower pace because of summer break, but I had a meal plan last week and we seemed to avoid it at all costs.

Maybe that should say Maniac Monday, because that’s how today feels. It feels like I should’ve just stayed in bed, or crawled back once I realized how awful today was going to be. It’s not even been a stressful kind of day, it’s one of those where things can go wrong.. it’s gonna go wrong kind of days.

It all started last night, I should’ve known, right? I finished up all of the admin stuff for the July Monthly kit that releases tomorrow and planned on going to bed early to read. Long story short.. I didn’t. It wasn’t until almost 2am before my head hit my pillow, and we had to be back up at 7:30 as the Girl started band camp today.

So.. how’d the Pinterest meal plan go?!? Or did I lose you to Pinterest? We made it through the meal planning process and cooking without getting lost to the abyss! We had some pretty amazing meals and I’m now wanting to go back for a second round of meal planning from Pinterest.

There is no real “theme” to this week’s meal plan. I guess you could say it’s tried and true recipes that we all love with one new one added in for something different. Some of these recipes are requested from the family on a regular basis and some of them I haven’t made in a REALLY long time. There’s at least 2 on this meal plan that are ones I haven’t made in years.

We have been parents for almost 14 years. That’s a shocking statement all on its own. I can’t believe that our oldest child is almost 14! Time sure does fly when you’re having fun! Looking back over the years I can’t believe how much our parenting style has changed.

Sure, I knew as the kids got older things would change and we would change, but it seems as though I’ve lost myself. Not so much my personality or the things I enjoy, but I feel as though I’m losing that Mom side of me. I wrote about being a parent of older children is hard and it’s true, but what I didn’t think about is my role in their lives. Continue reading →